Dalton Tracée
Flow State
Words Christopher Ferguson | Photos Parker Thornton
A native Austinite finds her voice with timeless portraits and evocative abstract works.
Only a year and a half ago, Dalton Tracée started painting again. She had taken some art classes in high school, but her interest in art was actually nurtured much earlier by her grandmother, also an artist, who would take Dalton wallpapering and lend her coloring books to occupy the time.
In the back of her mind, Dalton always considered pursuing art earnestly, but without confidence in any particular aesthetic, the burden of “creative block” perpetuated. “Everything changed when I stopped worrying about being perfect,” she explains. “I just practiced and let things flow.”
Sharing her first practice pieces with her social circle, she was suddenly receiving compliments and commissions from friends and family. Meanwhile, she worked full-time at local interior design firm, Shabby Slips, where she met Rachel Drake, co-founder of a local gallery and an instant advocate of Dalton’s early work.
That’s how life is. When you stop holding on so tight and forcing things, things will happen the way they’re supposed to.” – Dalton Tracée
At Rachel’s invitation, Dalton produced nearly two dozen original works for her first solo show in August 2023, and from there, momentum took hold. Selling several pieces that night, the validation and feedback from the art community launched her into a full-time art practice.
Painting on canvas, she waters down her acrylics to an almost watercolor-like viscosity, then adds embellishments with oil pastels and gold foil for texture and dimension. Her colors, dark and rich, tap into a collective nostalgia informed by the deep hues found in vintage portraits. There is not only a mutability and calmness felt in each piece but also feelings of romance, mystery, and tenderness.
Her expressive portraits portray mostly female subjects that seem contemplative, thoughtful, or otherwise enigmatic, a sensuality that is reinforced by the almost anachronistic application of tone and color. Put more simply, viewing Dalton’s work is like witnessing a fleeting, intimate moment within a much deeper story. Her elusive richness is especially savory in a rising artist’s early body of work, making Dalton Tracée’s upstart worth paying attention to sooner rather than later.
Nothing Wasted:
Dalton uses small canvases as paint palettes to mix colors, which then become abstract compositions also available for sale.
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